My First Carolina Nugget

September 2019 by Ray Mills

On my weekends off I spent many hours dredging the Second Broad River from Cane Creek Road up to the headwaters. I used a three-inch dredge with air and graduated to a five-inch with air.

A Father and Son Prospecting Adventure

May 2013
As I write this, I am still on a rush from taking my 9-year-old son, Jeffrey, prospecting for the first time this past weekend. It’s not that he hasn’t been along on numerous outings before: this is the first time that just the two of us went out for a day of drywashing and detecting under the desert sun.

Shallow Water Crevicing Can Bring Big Rewards

May 2013
Shallow water crevicing or sniping can produce gold if you’re persistent, a hard worker and lucky. It’s nice to have a snorkel, wet suit and goggles. The best practice for success, in my humble opinion, has always been to determine the best gold location and then figure out how to capture it.

Salted Mining Properties—How to Properly Evaluate a Claim

March 2012
Sometimes there are good mining claims on the market available to purchase, but there are also folks out there who are willing to take your money under false pretenses. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that these wolves in sheep’s clothing are few and far between.

The Underground Mining Adventure Continues

January 2019

Our group of independent miners have been busy crafting a uniquely designed ladder/ore cart track from the bottom of an 85-foot mine shaft in a historical hard rock mine.

Your Guide to Prospecting in Alaska

May 2013
Alaska is getting a lot of interest these days, not least because of all the gold prospecting shows on television. Hardly a month seems to pass without some new prospecting show being announced, and a couple of the most popular feature Alaska.

Chasing Those Crumbs

March 2023

Bedrock

March 2014
I am going to break bedrock down a bit and explain my view of the varying scenarios I come across in the field.

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